


Betty Cooper's Misadventures in Snake Charming

by Aakulujusi



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-02-11 20:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12942960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aakulujusi/pseuds/Aakulujusi
Summary: Betty was dumped. Sweetpea was there. Betty wants to prove that she can be bad all by herself but maybe Sweetpea can help. Jughead is not going to be happy.





	1. Setting the Trap

**Author's Note:**

> aaayy. so, this was an IDEA I had because Sweetpea looked at Betty for exactly 0.1 seconds in last night's episode. More than anything, this story is about Betty. This is exploring Betty's characterization and how she interacts with danger and men and dangerous men. Other characters will appear in later chapters but again, this is about Betty.

 

From the sound of it, the party was still raging inside of the White Wyrm. Loud cheers and loud music shook the ground. Betty Cooper felt like a little kid, lost at the zoo. Music was roaring behind her but it was the serpents that scared her the most. She was sad, tired, and hungry. She just wanted to go home. She didn't know how to get back, though. There was nowhere Betty would rather be in this moment, then in Jughead's arms. Jughead was home. 

She hugged her arms around herself, stimulating the feeling of Jughead and providing herself with a weak defense against the cold. Betty didn’t bring a jacket, in freezing weather, _of course_. In her mind, she’d be on the back of a motorcycle right now, wearing Jughead’s Serpent jacket. That was the plan. Her plan had gone south fast. All her thoughts and fantasies of what would have been so quickly became what _could_ have been.

She used to have someone to lean on when things got this uncertain but two people she was close to had walked out on her tonight. Whose fault was that? A forgotten nervous habit brought Betty's teeth down on her bottom lip. There was a deep pitted frustration inside of her. It hurt her heart and it hurt her stomach. She felt sick.

Betty couldn't figure out know who to be mad at. Herself or… _no_. Not Jughead. _Never_ , Jughead. He had been trying to save her. But she didn’t need saving. So, that left Betty staring into a metaphorical mirror. Self reflecting on her actions in the past few hours. Betty would never call herself stupid. She had trudged through too many insecurities to turn on herself now. Betty only had herself to blame but she only had herself, _period_.  Betty would make this into a learning lesson.

A voice rung out, deep and unexpected.  “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Maybe a little further North?”  

Betty’s shoulders tensed. She did well to stop herself from jumping out of her skin but there were goosebumps on her now that weren't from the cold. She turned around to face the voice. She didn’t recognize him. He was tall, with a snake tattoo on his neck and a gnarly expression that judged her for being where she didn't belong. Despite his height, Betty could tell he had to be around her age. He sat on a motorcycle, looking her up and down. Trying to get a read on her? Betty opened her mouth, a witty response on the tip of her tongue but she was interrupted by Toni Topaz. 

The pink haired girl was leaning against a wall. Had she been there the entire time? Did she see Jughead break up with Betty? “ _Uh uh uh_ …” Her voice was a singsong as she waved her finger at the tall boy. “Remember, Sweetpea? She’s _Serpent adjacent_ now.”  Toni smiled up at Betty. She was teasing her but there wasn't any malice behind it. Thankfully. 

“Oooh, I see.” The boy — Sweetpea? — nodded. Betty noticed that Toni didn't even come up to his shoulder. “I remember your performance up there. You know girls usually go through the Gauntlet too. The Serpent Dance is reserved for girlfriends who can’t take a hit.”  He held himself in a way that was arrogant but ultimately unfamiliar.  Nothing about him reminded Betty of Reggie Mantle's brand 'self confidence' or Veronica Lodge's head held up high. Sweetpea, Betty realized, was of a different breed.

“I’m not anyone’s girlfriend.” Betty insisted. She was quick to correct him and her tone was as biting as the cold air surrounding them. “ _And_ I can hold my own in a fight.” She added that for good measure. Okay, Betty had never tested that theory. She wasn’t in a hurry to but she needed as much defense from the judging eyes of Serpents as she needed a jacket to keep her from frostbite.

Toni raised her eyebrows at Betty’s assertion but said nothing. Betty guessed Toni hadn't heard Jughead break up with her. The entire incident was awful and the thought of it being even semi-public would have hurt Betty even more. Toni must have come out of the bar when Betty wasn't looking, around the same time that Sweetpea showed up. Were they.. together? Was Sweetpea just a pet name?

Betty watched the other girl push herself off the wall. “Seeing as how I actually care about my grades,” Toni said pointedly, looking at Sweetpea. Her voice was playful, like she was joking with an old friend. Or a boyfriend. Why did Betty care? “I’m going to go finish up some homework. Betty, do you need a ride home?” 

The blonde looked downwards to Sweetpea’s bike, then back up to meet the boy’s eyes. A new plan was forming. Betty wouldn't let it blow up in her face the same as her last one. “I’m fine. Thanks, Toni.”  

Toni sent a wary look between the two. What did she see? What did she notice? “Don’t get in trouble.” She warned them both before walking off. Whatever was on Toni's mind, she didn't think it was important enough to tell Betty.

As soon as Toni was out of sight, Betty made her move. Heels clacked evenly on the asphalt and then Betty was right under him. This boy. Sweetpea. “You have a nice bike.” The noise coming out of the bar was easy to ignore. Betty had her focus on Sweetpea and his focus was on her. 

Sweetpea leaned forward on the bike’s handles, closer to Betty.  A smirk was forming on his lips. “That’s the only nice thing about me.” Was that a threat or a promise? Oh-- maybe he was flirting?

“ _Ooh_ , you sound tough.” Betty had no talent with flirting, but she had learned enough from Veronica. At least, she hoped she had learned enough. “Is it all an act?” Jughead was nowhere near as tough as he pretended to be. Maybe Sweetpea--

“I’m in a gang.” Sweetpea's reminder interrupted Betty's train of thought.

It was the investigator in her. She was already conducting a backstory for him. But Sweetpea was different than anyone else Betty had ever spoken to. She had to remember that. “I guessed as much, but,” Betty wouldn’t falter. She refused to. “You got your nickname somehow, right?” She needed to throw herself into this. If Sweetpea was as bad as he claimed then she’d be bad too. She could be bad, right? 

He snorted. “It’s ironic.” Betty noticed that Sweetpea’s replies had gotten shorter and more curt. At first, Betty thought he wasn’t paying attention to her anymore but then she realized why. He was giving her a once over. Undressing her with his eyes.  Under any other circumstance, Betty would be offended. _Disgusted_. But she had a long night. It was nice to be wanted. Besides, she could use this to her advantage. There was little distance between herself and Sweetpea at this point, but Betty made the space between them even smaller when she leaned in.

Lips parted, voice low, Betty asked, “Did you like my dance?”  

Her words were a cue. Sweetpea seemed to remember that Betty's eyes were on her face and no where near her chest. He maintained steady eye contact. His intentions were far from unreadable. Betty knew exactly what he wanted. “I sure did.” He answered. Smooth. He talked like he knew more than she did.

“Maybe,” Noncommittal, conditional. Betty wasn't making any promises here. A large part of her was still hesitant, even scared. Her shoulders hadn't fully relaxed yet. “I can give you a private show sometime.” Sometime, maybe. She moved back then, watching the taller's expression. Her word choice didn't seem to get to him. She had him. “But for now, I need a ride home.” 

There was a pause. Betty knew he had already made up his mind. He wasn't considering taking her home. He was imagining something else. “I think you’ve found one.”  


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY! This one's shorter than the first, I just wanted to focus on Sweets and Betty's tension and dynamic and help set the stage for later. Expect chapter 3 to show up soon. This took so long because I could NOT keep up with canon but I wanted this to fit well within Riverdale's canon. But I've decided, as a fic writer? Bye canon! This is going to diverge quite a bit from here on out, but I hope it still FEELS like Riverdale. Enjoy.

Betty had a hard time focusing in school lately with everything going on at home. A new brother, a runaway sister… pre-calculus was starting to seem less and less important. Even further from the forefront of her mind was her one-night encounter with a boy named Sweet Pea. All the same, she hadn’t _forgotten_. No way Betty could forget Sweet Pea, who dropped her off at her house and _nothing else _. Betty was elusive that night. Alluring and captivating. When she slid off of his bike she knew he didn’t want her gone. Betty had a profound effect on someone, if only for the thirty or so minutes between the White Wyrm and the Cooper household.__

__Betty let herself wonder if Sweet Pea remembered _her_. She wouldn’t hold it against him if he let any memory of her slip out of his mind. Betty figured that was what she should be doing now. There was no room on Betty’s long list of priorities for a boy named Sweet Pea. Not now. Wood creaked as someone sat down on Betty’s desk, demanding her attention. _ _

__“Jug, I don’t have-“_ _

__“Hey.” A greeting came from a deep voice and a familiar face. He interrupted Betty. Or Betty interrupted him? “Do I _look_ like Jughead to you?” _ _

__Betty looked up at him. The boy on her mind, Sweet Pea. The turtleneck did him no favors but Betty thought it was cute in a sad way. “A little bit.” She answered with a soft smirk._ _

__Scoff! “Is that a compliment?”_ _

__“A stray observation, actually.”_ _

__Then came a sudden change of subject, the whole reason he was sitting down in front of her at all. “I never got that dance.”_ _

__Betty figured that would come up eventually. She avoided being alone with the Serpent in an, admittedly, weasel-like attempt to avoid this inevitable confrontation. Now that the awkward feeling was here, washing over her, Betty realized that it wasn’t so bad. She had felt worse things in her life, panic came to mind. The stress, when she was burying Archie alive. The disgust, seeing her mother kneeled over a dead man._ _

__This was nothing compared to anything she had ever gone through. Still, Betty found it hard to muster a response._ _

__Sweet Pea looked at her, he had been waiting the whole time. Betty was flashing back to her past but Sweet Pea saw nothing other than a girl clamming up. “Did you go deaf at some point in our conversation?”_ _

__Betty was wide eyed, though she didn’t mean to be. Part of her was still wading through her thoughts. She shook her head, *no*. She should focus on… whatever this was. It seemed like normal, everyday high school drama. If anything, this was what she needed most. “Sorry. I just— yeah.” She shrugged lamely. Her eyes avoided his gaze. The bluebird chirping outside of the classroom window held her attention._ _

__The mood dropped as the conversation went on. Betty wondered if Sweet Pea could read the environment, if the tension in the air would be enough for him to drop the topic entirely. He grunts first, then says something that throws Betty off her guard. “I know exactly why I didn’t get that dance.”_ _

__Betty felt it was obvious but his *tone* bothered her. “You have me all figured out?” She challenged, staring him straight in the eye. The bluebird flew away and the chirping faded._ _

__“Fuck yeah, I do.” He had the kind of haughtiness that Betty loved tearing down._ _

__“Then what’s my favorite color?”_ _

__“Pink.” He answered that fast. Was it the first thing that came to his mind? Did Betty look like a “pink” girl to him?_ _

__“Bzzzz. Try something less stereotypical.”_ _

__Sweet Pea was already done with this game. Betty could tell from the look he was giving her. "That's not even what I was talking about. I know why I didn't get that dance. It's because you're with Jughead again." He pointed at her as he said this. _Yes, behind Door B! That's my final answer._ _ _

__" _Or_ ," Betty's smile was polite, as always, but this time more than a bit strained. "And this may be _super hard_ for you to consider, but what if I didn't want to give you a dance? What if me not wanting to give you a personal show had absolutely nothing to do with Jughead? And consider the possibility that I used your developing teenage sex drive against you because I needed a ride home." _ _

__The haughtiness fell. Betty loved pushing teenage boy arrogance over. Speaking of, she made a mental note to go find Reggie after class and tell him that his fly had been down all day. Sweet Pea opened his mouth, then closed it. He swallowed and said, "Then that would make you a fucking tease."_ _

__Betty let that thought sit for a moment. She realized now that they had been staring into each other's eyes for the longer part of this conversation. Her heartbeat quickened. "I guess I'm a fucking tease."_ _

__The school bell rang. The teacher, who had been out of the room until now, rushed inside. He was a young teacher, always flustered and ill-prepared. He was holding many papers but they fell to the ground as he power walked towards his desk near the front of the room. "So sorry I'm late, guys." He was always sorry he was late. "I graded everyone's papers. I have good and bad news- " The teacher glanced at Sweet Pea. "You're not in my class." He nodded towards the door. "Shoo."_ _

__Sweet Pea stood from Betty's desk. He gave the blonde a once over, then exited. He left tension build. Betty could hear blood rushing in her ears._ _

__The teacher watched Sweet Pea leave. "Anyway!" He noticed all of the papers on the ground. "Whoever helps me clean this up gets extra credit. Betty?"_ _


End file.
